The present invention relates to structural systems, and in particular to apparatus for constructing a skeletal framework designed to support wall, furniture, or other structural panels.
A wide variety of various structural systems have been developed to support structural panels for the construction of either walls or furniture pieces. Some such structural systems are intended to be permanent, while others can be disassembled easily and can be used for temporary structures. However, each of these two types of structural systems are a difficult compromise between the aesthetic appeal of the system and the rigidity necessary to provide a usable structure. Some such structural systems employ a large number of bolts and other connecting elements which provide the necessary rigidity but are aesthetically unappealing. In others the rigidity of the structure is sacrificed for appearance. In still others rigidity is maintained with an aesthetically appealing structure only by the use of various covering members over the basic structural system, and thus the structure is quite complex.
The primary difficulty in achieving an acceptably rigid structure is found at the junction between the various members comprising the skeletal framework of the structure. In most structural systems the members themselves are unitary, and must be bolted or otherwise joined together at their ends to form the desired framework. Some systems have been developed to provide a sufficiently rigid junction between structural members, but in each case this junction is quite complex, being both difficult to manufacture and difficult to install.